


A Step in the Dark

by HansoldMySoul



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: By which time the last chapter should be up, Enjoy!, For Halloween of course, Horror!AU, M/M, Necromancy, Sacrifice, Supernatural Elements, Yuta's just a horror novelist who doesn't believe in the suoernatural, black magic, that's all folks, yuten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-23 00:58:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8307685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HansoldMySoul/pseuds/HansoldMySoul
Summary: Lacking inspiration, horror novelist Yuta learns that curiosity killed the cat when he stumbles upon ancient powers way beyond his imagination. The only one that can help him is the Ten, cocky and shrouded in mystery though he is. Remember, everything comes with a price. [Yuten, Yuta/Ten, Horror au]





	

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> In his search for inspiration, horror novelist Yuta unlocks old powers that should have been left alone. A mysterious boy named Ten offers to help him, but there's a price to pay for his assistance.

"This is a bad idea."

Yuta ignored the statement, having heard several variations of the 'advice' during the short drive already. Hansol had been particularly vocal about how much he disliked the idea of descending into the catacombs below the city but the Japanese novelist was more than accustomed to ignoring his editor's whining in favour of following his own whims. 

"You're just scared... The itty bitty catacombs too scary for you? Think some ghosts are gonna jump and out and shout 'Boo!'?" The goading was enough to make Hansol bite his tongue on any more complaints about their destination but it didn't stop every cell in his body from screaming that this was wrong. The catacombs were a sacred place, a final resting place for the deceased and it wasn't right to be trespassing on such a place with as pitiful an excuse as writers block. 

Satisfied that he'd won the battle, Yuta leaned back languidly against the headrest and pulled out the rough copy of his incomplete manuscript, scanning through the first page before tossing it to the floor of the car and rolling his eyes at his own lack of creativity. 

"How am I supposed to write a horror novel while cramped between the four boring walls of my apartment? I need some inspiration or my next book may possibly kill several readers through boredom alone." Yuta whined, running a hand roughly through his hair and noting idly that he really had to schedule an appointment at the hairdresser because if it got any longer he wouldn't be able to see. 

"You're going to get us both killed." Hansol frowned, taking a sharp left onto the road that would lead to the outside entrance for the city catacombs. It was dark out, the sun having gone down several hours prior and Hansol was noticeably on edge despite the way Yuta was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement (and the three cups of coffee he'd imbibed against his editor's firm advice.)

"Pfft! Killed by what? It's just a dingy tunnel-cave thing. Everyone knows that none of that supernatural stuff actually exists so why don't you man up instead of trying to make your impossibly huge self look small?" Yuta's voice was exasperated, having already set off towards the nondescript wooden door that would lead them to their destination. When the lack of footsteps brought him to the realization that Hansol hasn't moved, he turned and shrugged in a noncommittal way, "Or you could wait right here and I'll be back soon. I'm a big boy after all." 

The look in Hansol's eyes told Yuta that he was endlessly relived to have been offered the reprieve and he knew what the taller boy would say before he even opened his mouth. 

"Don't get lost... If you aren't back by midnight then I'm coming down after you." Despite being the one to say it, Hansol looked less than pleased with even the slight prospect of having the enter the sprawling tombs that lay below the city. 

A salute was his only, thrown over his shoulder with a wink as he pushed the heavy wooden door, not bothering with the ancient looking deadbolt which was way passed being able to do his job of keeping curious city-goers out. 

Out of sight, Hansol's expression shifted from nervous to something much more grim, a spark of silver evident in his eyes under the luminescent moonlight.

Failure. 

•

Alone in the dark passageway that connected from the bottom of the stairs, Yuta observed his surroundings with interest, mentally noting setting ideas as he tried to navigate the narrow space with the minimal light provided by his phone. A thousand ideas ran through his head and he wondered what it would be like to enter the sprawling tombs themselves that lay beyond. 

The sound of footsteps echoed, bouncing off the narrow walls and being amplified by silence and Yuta made to pause when he thought momentarily that he could hear a second set of footsteps beside his own but when he stopped and listened, all was still. Not one to be become paranoid, he ignored the feeling and continued walking but the some part of his mind remained convinced that the repetitive tapping was caused by something other than the jarring echoes of the narrow space. 

In the dim lighting it wasn't immediately clear when he reached the point at which the passage opened up into a larger cavernous space but a shift in the air and temperature told Yuta that he was no longer crowded by damp bricks. The air here was warmer, contrary to the chill he expected to feel upon exiting an enclosed space and it was hard to make out any details in the murky darkness but it appeared to be lighter up ahead, something that Yuta didn't think of as being suspicious.

He moved forward with cautious steps, trying to avoid tripping on anything that could have been obstructing his path but the closer he got to the warm glow, the more evident it became that something was wrong. The hairs on his arms stood on end as what appeared to first be a static hum permeated the air, becoming louder and more insistent the closer he got the branch chamber he'd been approaching. Less confident than before, Yuta's footsteps slowed as he took care to make as little noise as possible while trying to discern anything from the overwhelming but quiet mass of sound.

The hum became voices, deep and empty that pierced through Yuta like a knife. They were chanting, words he didn't understand and for the first time since entering the catacombs, Yuta considered turning tail and leaving because although he claimed to not believe in the supernatural, a feeling of dread had settled dee in his bones and everything was screaming at him to leave before he ended up in a truly dangerous situation with absolutely no backup.

"Tollere Morten vita regnare."

The words were foreign to Yuta's ears, definitely not Korean or Japanese and though his knowledge was fairly limited he was fairly certain the chants weren't spoken in English either.

"Et nos unum sumus!"

From the he shadows he could make out maybe a dozen hooded figures, all crouched forward in what appeared to be some convoluted style of praying. If they noticed his presence, it went ignored on favour of joining hands and staring, unseeing at the two hunched silhouettes that decorated the center of the circle.

"Accipe sacraficium fidei nostrae signum,"

Yuta watched in horror as the one on the left began to move erratically, his mouth open in a silent scream of agony whilst the figure on the right rose to her knees with her arms extended towards the heavens in what looked almost like an instinctive move. 

"Sortem et vitam nostram simulacra viro!"

Their voices had been steadily becoming louder as they chanted, culminating in a victorious fanfare of noise but as soon as they'd finished speaking, one person rising to their feet and the other cold and unmoving, the cavern had been consumed by silence so thick that Yuta wanted to speak just to break it. 

A warm breath against his ear would have made Yuta scream aloud had a hand not hastened to cover his mouth. Stuck between a group of maniacs that had clearly just murdered someone and an unknown oppressor who could end his life with very little effort, Yuta wondered if he was going to die down here. 

"To rise above death, to rule over the living..." The voice whispered, softer than a breath and meant for his ears only.

"We are one!" He continued and some small part of Yuta's mind realised that he was translating the chanting from earlier but he found it hard to focus on the words.

"Accept this sacrifice and bless our new sister with the power of the wraith." If the man was waiting for a reaction, he'd have been disappointed because Yuta was trying his hardest not to breath. Maybe this was all a really bad dream that he was about to wake up from and everything would be okay again. 

"You chose the wrong day for an adventure Mr. Curious. In a second all twelve-- thirteen of those wraiths are going to notice your presence and you just saw what happens to trespassers... It isn't pretty."

Sure enough, Yuta heard something shift behind him that sounded like his captor kicking a pebble across the floor and it took less than a second for twelve pairs of silver eyes and one pair of blood red ones to be focused on him, the space behind him feeling suddenly cold and empty.

"Good thing you've got me here," The voice echoed from somewhere ahead and suddenly, the attention was no longer focused on him, all eyes averted to a cloaked figure standing in a glowing circle of runes.

If he'd expected a battle, the whole situation became very anticlimatic very fast. 

In a move that his rational mind couldn't explain, the figures began to disappear one by one leaving behind only tendrils of black smoke as proof that they'd ever been their at all. 

When all was said and done, Yuta stood in the center of the cavern and tried to take in what had just occurred. Black eyes met his across the cavernous space. 

"I do believe I just saved your ass. You can call me Ten." The stranger chirped, as though he hadn't just somehow lived through a life or death situation.

That was when everything went black.

**Author's Note:**

> For Anna because she deserves some Yuten for all the great fics she writes!
> 
> 2 questions for you guys:
> 
> Can you spot the suspicious element in the fic so far?
> 
> What language were the wraiths chanting in? 
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always Appreciated!~~
> 
> Find me on Twitter! @HansoldMS_Twt


End file.
